Charlie Walk has exited Republic Records, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Wednesday.
The move was announced about two months after the music executive was put on leave amid sexual misconduct allegations made by seven of his former employees. He had served as the label’s president since 2016.
“Republic Records and Charlie Walk have mutually agreed to part ways,” a Republic Records representative said in a statement.
Walk was first publicly accused of sexual harassment in late January, when Tristan Coopersmith published an open letter in which she detailed Walk’s alleged abuse and inappropriate behavior while working at Sony Music. Following Coopersmith’s allegations, Walk resigned from his position as a judge on the music competition series The Four, and was placed on leave from Republic Records as Universal Music Group conducted an internal investigation.
Other women came eventually forward with their own stories of Walk’s alleged misconduct. One of the women was Kate Harold, who worked as Walk's former executive assistant at Columbia Records in 2006.
“Every day was a day of fear,” Harold told Rolling Stone. “It was really scary and depressing and probably the worst time of my professional life. Early on in my job, he sat uncomfortably close to me and told me that he could lift my career to extraordinary heights but that I had to be ready to do 'whatever it takes.' He was clearly implying that I needed to be willing to sleep with him. As he was saying this, he got up close to my face and winked in a very flirty manner. I completely froze up. I was afraid of him. It made me feel horrible.”
Walk has denied the claims.
“I did not do these things and this is not who I am. Throughout my career I have always sought to conduct myself professionally and appropriately,” he told Rolling Stone. “It is upsetting to be presented with false claims from long ago that I know to be untrue and were never reported. I support the national discussion taking place right now because I believe fully in the importance in treating everyone with respect and dignity at all times.”
